


Troublesome Trakehners

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 19:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19341181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Louisa organises a pony playdate for some of the group's trakehners and leaves Ella in charge. Ella and Richard belong to ellawolfpaw on tumblr, Shaggy and Willow belong to willownorthbook, Tatiana belongs to ZealousDawn, and Daine and Chance belong to HellishSam.





	Troublesome Trakehners

Normally, South Hoof Peninsula, or just South Hoof to the locals, was one of the more peaceful places on Jorvik. It held little more than a small family farm connected to a ranch (which now boasted several dozen horses belonging to one Louisa Mcburg in addition to the chickens, cattle, and pigs that lived on the farm), a cottage belonging to a Hermit, an ancient tree that was rumoured to have magical properties, and, of course, the herd of wild Welsh ponies that had lived there ever since the Great Thunder incident that had cut off South Hoof from the mainland.

Today, though, the paddock at the ranch was populated by a small group of horses who looked for all the world like butter wouldn’t melt. Ella Wolfpaw, the young lady who was ‘babysitting’ these creatures, however, knew better. She frowned at the horses, trying to imitate the watchful gaze that her friend Louisa usually gave them. Only one horse, the grey Trakehner that belonged to her, gave her a friendly whinny. The rest of the horses, especially the pinto named Trouble, looked at her as though they’d done nothing wrong. Ella would be willing to believe them if she hadn’t already seen the trouble that her friend’s aptly-named horse had gotten into over the years. According to Cadence, who this job really should have fallen to, that was a result of the trainer being too soft on the foal’s rebellious nature. Knowing Louisa as she did, Ella was willing to believe that.

“I’m watching you,” said Ella, trying to act like a character in one of those western movies that she’d watched in an attempt to learn more about riding (it had only kind of worked, but it was better than nothing). Her fingers twitched by her side where a rope hung. Trouble tossed his head, prancing to the front of the group. “What are you doing?” Ella was instantly on the alert, watching the horse’s every move. Now, she wished that she’d paid more attention and hadn’t tried to shut out the voices of other horses in her head. It just wasn’t scientific, she’d thought at the time. It didn’t make sense to be able to understand a horse like you could understand a human.

Though, Ella had to wonder if she’d be able to understand the horses even if she could hear what they were ‘saying’ as Louisa could. Trouble stood facing the assembled group of Trakehners, nickering at them. He almost looked like he was teaching them. Probably teaching them to misbehave.

While Trouble began to almost pace, kicking his hind hooves out every so often, Richard, Ella’s grey Trakehner, watched the gelding intently. Too intently. Shaggy, Willow’s dark bay, and Chance, Daine’s bay, watched with equal amounts of interest, but there was a different interest in Richard’s eyes. Ella squinted at him. Maybe she was about to watch a real-life display of homosexuality in the animal kingdom. Hopefully not too detailed, though.

Ella turned her head away for one second to reach in her pocket for her little notebook and pen (she could have used her phone but phone keyboards were tiny and notorious for ruining notes with autocorrect. Also it was set to Jorvegian and Ella didn’t have the time or energy to translate). By the time she’d lifted her head again, though, Trouble was looking at her with the most untrustworthy look in his eyes. Ella was willing to bet that a horse looked like that seconds before bolting or bucking.

“Don’t you dare,” said Ella, holding her hand up.

Trouble gave a whinny, and just like that, the group tore off, even Tatiana, Eden’s chestnut mare who was supposedly well-behaved. Either she was copying the others, or she was trying to chase them down and round them up and bring them back. But Ella could only watch in dismay as the five horses leaped over the paddock fence and ran across the grass with tails and heads held high.

“No, no, no,” Ella murmured, running over to the fence and scrambling over it. She landed on her feet this time, thankfully, and threw her hands up in the air as the horses put on another burst of speed. “Ah, crap.” So much for being a horse watcher. Why had Louisa decided that now was the perfect time to give her friends a tour of her stables? And why had Ella volunteered to watch them?

Replacing the notebook and pen with her phone, Ella fired off a quick text message to her friend.

“Lost them. Sorry :(“

Louisa’s response, however, made her smile just a tiny bit. Just one name, in all caps. “TROUBLE”. Ella could almost hear her growl of frustration, which made her feel a bit better. She’d been tricked. Hoodwinked. Were she Big Bonny, she’d run away and live out the rest of her days in a grain silo for her complete and utter failure. Ella, however, was not that dramatic. Not in the least. Though it would be a pain to have to walk all the way back to Valedale where she’d left Nova (the druids had kindly offered up their stables to their Soul Riders, and Ella wasn’t about to look that gift horse in the mouth. Pun not intended but nonetheless amusing).

In the distance, Ella could just barely see the flying tails of the horses, mostly the one who had a great deal of white on him. Where were they even going?

“Okay, I think she’s far enough away now,” Trouble called back to the others in his little herd.

“She didn’t even follow us,” said Chance, giving a snort of delight.

“The human knows that we are superior beings,” said Shaggy. He had a funny voice, kind of deep and echoey. Trouble liked it and wished that his voice could sound like that, it would be fun to scare people with it.

“Yes, yes, we’ve had our fun,” said Tatiana, shaking out her shorter mane. “Now, let’s get back before they worry.”

“Well, you can if you want,” said Trouble, turning away from her. “I’m going to go have some fun with this tall, grey and handsome.” He nibbled at Richard’s mane, making the other gelding whinny and whip around in surprise.

“But we’re all the same height,” said Chance, looking around in confusion.

“Please don’t corrupt the young,” said Tatiana, lowering her head.

“It’s a bit too late for that,” said Richard. “Since he already had us chase after him and…” Tatiana’s glare made him trail off. “You know what, you’re right, Trouble, let’s go over here…”

“Don’t hear me complaining,” said Trouble, trotting after the gelding that he’d clearly taken a shine to. Shaggy had disappeared without anyone noticing, which was odd but he was an odd horse.

“I’m going to hang out with my brother,” said Chance, cantering after Trouble. Tatiana blew air out in a sigh before turning and heading back towards the ranch. Boys, honestly.

“So,” said Trouble as he trotted alongside Richard. “Where have you been hiding?”

“I’m new,” said Richard. “Ella bought me as a backup in case Nova didn’t work out.” Trouble gasped, stopping dead in his tracks.

“How could you be anyone’s second choice?” said Trouble. “I mean, look at you!” He reared up a little, waving his hooves.

“I know,” said Richard, holding his head a little higher. “You’re not so bad yourself.” Trouble gave a little squeal before prancing off.

“Thank you for saying so,” said Trouble, shaking himself.

“That’s why I followed you,” said Richard. “I was trying to impress you.”

“Well, consider me impressed,” said Trouble, walking alongside him once more. He nudged against Richard, who tripped before righting himself. “What I look for in a guy is someone who likes to make as much mischief as me.”

“Why do you make mischief?” Richard asked. Thankfully, Trouble wasn’t offended at the naïve question, only tossing his mane.

“Because it’s fun,” said Trouble. “Louisa always gets so mad. That’s why I do it, because she just looks so funny.”

“I’d feel bad doing that to Ella, though,” said Richard. “She’s so new to riding, I don’t want to upset her or make her feel like a failure.”

“There is a line,” said Trouble, “between being a little shit, as Louisa calls it, and being a menace to society. The trick is in stopping when they cry.”

“Okay,” said Richard. “I’m still not sure if I can do it, though.”

“Well, you certainly followed me over the paddock fence quickly enough,” said Trouble. Richard stopped and looked back in the direction of the ranch. Trouble nudged him, though, and somehow, that brief touch convinced Richard not to go running back to his rider. “I’ll ruin you yet.”

“I bet you say that to all the guys,” said Richard, his head lowered and tail swishing. Trouble gently smacked his tail against Richard’s rump, making him raise his head with a surprised whinny.

“There haven’t been any other guys,” said Trouble. “Well, okay, there was Lynx in Moorland, but he’s into mares. Unfortunately.”

“Did he corrupt you?” Richard asked. Trouble nickered.

“I was born with this,” said Trouble. “Shaggy says I might be a trickster god. I don’t know what he means, but it sounds fun.”

“Hey, slow down!” Chance called, finally catching up to them. Trouble looked around at his brother, giving a whinny of greeting, while Richard lowered his head against the wash of disappointment.

“Chance! I didn’t know you wanted to come with us,” said Trouble.

“Tatiana yelled at me,” said Chance, lowering his ears.

“She’s not coming, is she?” Trouble asked, looking around with his ears swivelling and nostrils flaring. He couldn’t pick up the scent of a mare, nor could he hear anything beyond the wind and the distant sound of Welsh ponies running across the island. That and the very distant sound of the large tree that seemed to be calling him.

“No, she went back to the ranch to wait for Eden,” said Chance. “Where are you guys going?”

“We were going on a date,” Richard muttered, but it went unheard by Chance. Trouble flicked an ear towards him, though.

“Oh, just to the tree,” said Trouble. “Wanna race there?”

“Do I?” said Chance, flicking his tail with excitement.

“Threetwoonego!” Trouble called, and Chance tore off ahead of them. Richard looked about to go too, but Trouble nipped the base of his tail. When Richard looked at him, ears back in confusion, Trouble winked. Which was a bit hard to see when there was an eye on either side of his head, but Richard was pretty sure that it was a wink.

“Oh, you’re clever,” said Richard, his tail swishing.

“I’m not called a trickster god for nothing,” said Trouble with a nicker. “He’ll wait for us and think he’s so great for beating us. Aren’t I a great brother?”

“You’re something, alright,” said Richard. Trouble tossed his head, trotting ahead of him. Richard only watched him walk for a few seconds before following beside him, their sides still brushing together every so often.

“I like your mane,” said Trouble, distracting Richard from his assessment of every bay patch on Trouble.

“Huh? Thanks,” said Richard. “Ella said she likes the look of it on me, too. That’s why she let it grow out.” Also because she didn’t see the point in wasting money getting his mane clipped, but Richard didn’t want to make her sound like she was poor. Even if she was, technically, homeless.

“Should I grow mine out, do you think?” Trouble asked.

“Yes,” said Richard without hesitation. More mane to groom and nuzzle. Also the white stripe in Trouble’s mane would probably look excellent when grown out.

“Guess I should hide the scissors, then,” said Trouble. Richard nickered his amusement.

Hours later, the owners of the horses finally found their missing steeds. All but one, who would later be found hanging upside down from the roof above one Lionhunter’s stall (his scream of terror would cause a small avalanche in Dino Valley).

“There they are,” said Ella when she finally found her grey gelding standing rather close to the bay tobiano who’d started it all. She started toward Richard, who took a step back when he saw the halter that she held. “Come on, you’ve had your fun. I’ll bring you to see your boyfriend tomorrow.” Trouble’s ears pricked up at that, as did Richard’s. But Richard still almost stepped on Ella’s foot several times as she led him away. It was definitely because of the roots. Definitely not because of how Trouble had nipped his ear and whispered sweet things into it. And Ella had thought that Richard was the flirtatious one.

“Sorry about him, guys,” said Louisa as she collected her naughty horse. “I thought he could be trusted.”

“Lol you thought,” said Trouble, heard only by her. Louisa frowned at him.

“You better not have corrupted your brother,” said Daine, though Chance did allow himself to be haltered and led quite easily. “I’m trying to train him for dressage.” Trouble snorted, to which Louisa frowned at him again.

“Well, if he did, I’m sorry,” said Louisa. “Really.”

“It’s okay,” said Willow, patting Louisa’s shoulder. “Now we know that they can’t be trusted.”

“I’ll come look for Shaggy with you if you want,” said Louisa. “With another horse, obviously.” Willow smiled at her.


End file.
